Released on: March 4, 2008, 5:35 am

Press Release Author: Integrated Brand-Comm Pvt Ltd

Industry:

Press Release Summary: Anuradha Vaidyanathan becomes the first Indian Woman to
qualify for the Half-Ironman Triathlon World Championships

Press Release Body: Bangalore, March 2008: March 1st, 2008 marked an auspicious day
for 27-year-old Anuradha Vaidyanathan who finished strong at the Ironman New Zealand
triathlon which involves a 3.8 kilometre swim, a 180-kilometre bike ride and a 42.2
kilometre run. Anuradha is the first Indian participating in such Ironman triathlon
international events and is now the First Indian to qualify for the Half-Ironman
Triathlon World Championships.

Anuradha has previously competed in the Geelong Half-Ironman in February and
qualified for the Half-Ironman World Championships (called the 70.3 world champs)
held in November every year, in Clearwater, Florida. In this race there were 1500
participants and 75 slots. "Before we knew it, the gun went off and to be swimming
in an ocean with 1500 people is no joke! It was truly the washing-machine in there,"
says Anuradha recalling the experience.

Anuradha's race result at the Ironman New Zealand triathlon including was a personal
best time of 12:47 making her the 89th woman out of 246 overall (including the
professionals) and 30th woman on the run (out of 246, including professionals).

"I was very happy that the Indian flag was put up at this event because of me and I
was very proud to put on a great show and dig deep, past all the challenges. I
cannot WAIT for next year, when I will have a solid year of training under my belt,"
she adds.

A CEO of PatNMarks, a patent consultancy Anuradha surprises you in more ways than
one. While she was going that extra mile to redefine old rules, her professional
life was also on the up. After a short stint at IBM, this techie decided to be her
own boss and set up a consultancy firm in Bangalore and a branch office in Chennai.

Balancing her work and passion needs extra effort but Anuradha is not complaining.
She does not believe in role models ("If they turn out to be normal people, what
will we do?") but there have been a few positive influences. "It was heartening to
see a young participant running without shoes in one of the races. It just proved
how high her motivation level was. Mine is no exception I would like to thank my
sponsors Wildcraft, for paying the entry-fee for this race, it was difficult for me
to reach this stage without their support. I appeal to the government and other
agencies to support me in representing my country" she says.
So there's no looking back for this young gun who is now training for the next big
Ironman triathlon and is raring to go. You go girl! You can mail Anuradha at
anu.vaidyanathan@yahoo.com



Web Site: http://

Contact Details: Anuradha Vaidyanathan
anu.vaidyanathan@yahoo.com